Effects of intraoperative glucose administration on circulating metabolites and nitrogen balance during prolonged surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of intraoperative administration of 2.5% glucose or Ringer's solution on metabolism during prolonged surgery. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. SETTING: Teaching hospital. PATIENTS: 20 ASA physical status I and II adults patients scheduled for thoracic or abdominal surgery lasting at least 3 hours. INTERVENTIONS: Patients received Ringer's solution (Group R) or 2.5% glucose solution (Group G) 10 ml.kg-1.h-1 during surgery and 2 ml.kg-1.h-1 during the first two postoperative hours (Ringer's or glucose), then 40 ml.kg-1.day-1 of 5% intravenous (i.v.) glucose postoperatively. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Plasma glucose, free fatty acids, ketone bodies, lactate, insulin, glucagon, cortisol, and growth hormone concentrations were determined after an overnight fast (T0), on induction of anesthesia (T1), at the end of surgery (T2), 2 hours thereafter (T3), and on the following morning (T4). Capillary blood glucose was determined every 30 minutes from T1 to T2. Urinary nitrogen and 3-methylhistidine were measured every day for 5 days. There were no differences between groups in demographic data, anesthesia, or surgical procedures. All data were comparable at baseline and on the following morning. In Group R, no patient experienced hypoglycemia, but plasma fatty acids and ketone bodies increased during surgery. In Group G, glycemia rose to very high levels, with a significant increase in insulin during surgery. Other hormones were the same within the two groups. Urinary nitrogen and 3-methylhistidine were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: The absence of glucose infusion in prolonged surgery did not cause hypoglycemia, and no increase in protein catabolism was observed.

Is vitamin K1 supplementation necessary in long-term parenteral nutrition?

BACKGROUND: I.v. lipid emulsions contain vitamin K in substantial quantities and in 1989, we therfore stopped supplying vitamin K1 to patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN). METHODS: Nine patients (group I) receiving HPN before 1989 (10 mg i.v. vitamin K1 supplementation weekly until 1989, which was discontinued thereafter) and six patients with an initial low plasma vitamin K1 concentration (related to their malabsorption) (group II) receiving HPN after 1989 were studied. Prothrombin time (PT), plasma vitamin K1 concentration, and vitamin K1, content in lipid emulsions were measured throughout the period of HPN. RESULTS: All lipid emulsions, except for Eurolip 20% and Clinoleic 20% (Baxter SA, Maurepas, France) contained vitamin K1, with concentration ranges from 179 +/- 39 to 353 +/- 78 ng/L. Group I patients had an initial high plasma vitamin K1 concentration due to the vitamin K1 supplementation. After this supplementation was discontinued, plasma vitamin K1 decreased and remained in normal ranges with a normal PT. Throughout the HPN period after 1989, patients received 255 +/- 104 micrograms of vitamin K1 weekly through lipid emulsions. The PT and plasma vitamin K1 concentrations in group II patients were restored by lipid emulsions, which contained 418 +/- 143 micrograms/wk of vitamin K1. CONCLUSIONS: In patients receiving i.v. lipids (except for Eurolip and Clinoleic), a normal vitamin K1 status can be maintained during long-term HPN without vitamin K1 supplementation. However, vitamin K supplementation cannot be abandoned until the vitamin K content of emulsions is standardized by manufacturers. A weekly supply of 250 to 400 micrograms of vitamin K1 is enough to maintain and even restore a normal vitamin K1 status in HPN.

Cytokine and hormonal changes after cholecystectomy. Effect of ibuprofen pretreatment.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical stress induces hormonal and cytokine responses proportional to the extent of the injury. Therefore, the authors assessed the effect of ibuprofen pretreatment on metabolic and hormonal changes after surgery. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Postoperative administration of cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor reduces cytokine production and nitrogen losses. METHODS: The authors studied the plasma hormones and metabolic and cytokines changes after perioperative ibuprofen administration in 22 patients undergoing cholecystectomy under inhalational anesthesia. Suppositories containing ibuprofen (500 mg) or placebo were administered 12 and 2 hours before surgery, and every 8 hours until the third postoperative day. Blood samples were collected 24 and 2 hours before surgery and 2, 4, 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgery for glucose, C-reactive protein, leukocytes, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 determinations. RESULTS: In both groups, plasma cortisol levels remained elevated for 3 days, whereas plasma ACTH levels returned to the basal level at day 1. The ACTH (p < 0.01), cortisol (p < 0.01), and glucose changes (p < 0.001) were smaller in the ibuprofen group and their duration was shorter. The interleukin-6 levels increased gradually after skin incision until the sixth hour and were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the ibuprofen group. CONCLUSION: Ibuprofen pretreatment in perioperative course is able to reduce the endocrine response and cytokine release. Therefore, ibuprofen may be useful in decreasing the stress response in severely surgical patients.

Prognosis of patients with nonmalignant chronic intestinal failure receiving long-term home parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Long-term survival of patients with intestinal failure requiring home parenteral nutrition (HPN) has been only partly shown. Therefore, we described the survival of these patients and explored prognosis factors. METHODS: Two hundred seventeen noncancer non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome adult patients presenting with chronic intestinal failure enrolled from January 1980 to December 1989 in approved HPN programs in Belgium and France; prognosis factors of survival were explored using multivariate analysis. Data were updated in March 1991; not one of the patients was lost to follow-up. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients died during the survey, and the mortality rate related to HPN complications accounted for 11% of deaths. Probabilities of survival at 1, 3, and 5 years were 91%, 70%, and 62%, respectively. Three independent variables were associated with a decreased risk of death: age of patients younger than 40 years, start of HPN after 1987, and absence of chronic intestinal obstruction. In patients younger than 60 years of age included after 1983 with a very short bowel, who could represent suitable candidates for small bowel transplantation, the 2-year survival rate was 90%, a prognosis that compared favorably with recent reports of survival after small bowel transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: HPN prognosis compares favorably with recent reports of survival after small bowel transplantation.

[Metastatic neuroblastoma with secondary hypersecretion of vasoactive intestinal peptide]. / Neuroblastome métastatique avec hypersécrétion secondaire de peptide intestinal vaso-actif.

A 18-month-old boy with stage 4 neuroblastoma needed intensive care because of prerenal acute renal failure related to an intractable watery diarrhoea syndrome occurring 10 months after the diagnosis of the primary tumor. This diarrhoea was in relation with a late hyperproduction of vasoactive intestinal peptide by the relapsing neuroblastoma itself and stopped with intravenous somatostatin administration.

[Trace elements in artificial nutrition. Art and practice]. / Les oligoéléments en nutrition artificielle. Art et pratique.

The trace elements known to be necessary for man are iron, zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, cobalt and iodine. This review article, which excludes iron, deals with the need for supplemental trace elements during artificial feeding, and the way they should be administered. The biological importance of these trace elements is argued on the basis of their biochemical involvement and the clinical pictures seen in accidental or experimental deficiency states. Assessing a patient's trace element status is rather difficult. The relative merits of different laboratory investigations is discussed: plasma, erythrocyte, capillary and urinary levels, specific enzyme activities, loading tests. The different situations when trace elements are required, assessing the amount needed and the possible toxic risks, are presented from a literature survey.

Effects of intermittent electrical stimulations on muscle catabolism in intensive care patients.

To determine whether muscular contractions obtained by electrical stimulation in immobilized patients are able to reduce muscle catabolism, we studied 10 patients (65-79 yr old) hospitalized in the intensive care unit for postoperative ventilatory failure or cerebral infarction. Artificial nutrition was the same for each patient during the 9-day study period. Two periods of 4 days were defined and randomized for each patient, separated by one day. During the muscular stimulation (MS) period, intermittent electrical stimulation of the muscles of the legs (external electrodes), were performed daily during 2 X 30 mn. During the other period, muscular stimulations were not performed. Urinary excretion of nitrogen (micro-Kjeldhal digestion and Nessler procedure), creatinine (Jaffe reaction), and 3-methyl histidine (3-MH) (gas phase chromatography) was measured every day. (table; see text) We conclude that a significant decrease in 3-MH and creatinine excretion is observed during the MS period. In intensive care unit patients, muscle protein breakdown may be influenced by intermittent muscular electrical stimulation.

[Somatostatin, what are its uses?]. / La somatostatine, pour quoi faire?

Somatostatin has several effects on the secretions of the gastrointestinal tract. The assessment of therapeutic use is based on literature review. The rebound and escape phenomena are the main problems in the clinical use of somatostatin and their prevention is perhaps possible by the prescription of a long-acting analogue in an intermittent mode of administration.

[Effects of intermittent muscle stimulation on muscle catabolism in patients immobilized in the ICU]. / Effets des stimulations musculaires intermittentes sur le catabolisme musculaire des malades immobilisés en réanimation.

Are muscular contractions obtained by electrical stimulation able to reduce muscle catabolism in immobilized patients? Ten patients (65 to 79 yr old), hospitalized in an intensive care unit for postoperative failure or cerebral infarction, were studied during nine days. Artificial nutrition was the same for each patient during the study. Two periods of four days where defined and randomized for each patient, separated by one day; during the stimulation period (S), intermittent electrical stimulation of the muscles of the legs (external electrodes) was performed daily 2 X 30 min; during the non-stimulation period (NS), muscular stimulation was not performed. Urinary excretion of nitrogen (micro-Kjeldhal digestion and Nessler procedure), creatinine (Jaffé reaction) and 3-methylhistidine were measured every day. Results (X +/- SD) are as follows: the nitrogen balance (g/d) was -1.29 +/- 1.26 during the NS period and 1.43 +/- 1.10 during the S period (NS); 3-methylhistidine (mumol/kg/d) was 3.78 +/- 0.37 during the NS period and 3.15 +/- 0.32 during the S period (p less than 0.01); creatinine (mumol/kg/d) was 92.9 +/- 6.8 during the NS period and 72.9 +/- 25 during the S period (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that a significant decrease in 3-methylhistidine and creatinine excretions is observed during the S period. In intensive care unit patients, muscle protein breakdown may be influenced by intermittent electrical muscle stimulation.

[Severe Legionella pneumopathy in an immunologically normal infant]. / Pneumopathie grave à légionelle chez un nourrisson immunologiquement normal.

A case of legionnaires' disease is described in a 9 months old boy. He had a rapidly extensive bilateral pneumoniae. There was no premorbidity. The diagnosis was made by demonstrating legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in pulmonary biopsy and pleural liquid, by direct immunofluorescence assay and positive culture. There was no seroconversion. An adenovirus type 2 was also isolated in pulmonary biopsy, with an strong seroconversion. The course was favorable, with Doxycycline therapy.